1. Name, agency, and telephone number of nominator. Nominator must be a Government employee.

2. Name of the contact center or other customer portal being nominated. This is how it will appear in any related announcements, releases, and engravings.  Limit 60 characters, no acronyms.

3. Name, title, email address, and phone number for Government manager of contact center or portal.

4. Background information:

• Number of people in the group you are nominating

• Who are your primary customers

• Approximate size of your customer base

• Type of contact service(s) you provide (web portal, help desk, call center, etc.)

• The primary activity or technology you support

• Number of incoming contacts monthly by type (calls, emails, etc.)

• Tracking systems and other key support technologies in use

• Outsourcer [if applicable]

• Other brief information which provides context for the narrative in Item 5 below.

5. A nomination narrative not exceeding the equivalent of one printed page in 12 point font which concisely addresses both of the following:

1. How your help desk, call center, or other customer portal cultivates and applies one or more of the three key traits highlighted above.

2. The positive impacts on your staff, service quality and customers which result.

6. If you are selected as a finalist, is someone from the group available to serve as a panelist and/or present a conference session based on your nomination?  If so, please provide their name, title, phone, and email address.

NOTE: The section of your narrative responding to Item 5.b. is the most important part of your nomination. The most frequent shortfall of past nominations has been failure to substantiate positive impacts of activities and initiatives on staff and/or customers.  Your effective practices should be reflected in substantiated results.

The Government Customer Support Excellence Awards are presented annually on behalf of Cgov Community of Practice (www.fedhelpdesk.roc.noaa.gov) to recognize and foster the sharing and implementation of effective practices for supporting Government's customers, both internal and external. Winners and other finalists are selected based upon independent scoring by a panel of judges from both public and private sectors.